


On the Enjoyment of Pudding Cups

by Maximum_Quinn



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Brotherly Bonding, Gen, Pre-Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Pudding, Star Wars AU - Soft Wars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-22 23:47:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30046638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maximum_Quinn/pseuds/Maximum_Quinn
Summary: A little Alpha with a big attitude, andplentyof opinions on the care and feeding of his ori'vode.
Relationships: Original Clone Characters & Original Clone Characters
Comments: 4
Kudos: 38
Collections: Open Source Soft Wars





	On the Enjoyment of Pudding Cups

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Art_Ninja](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Art_Ninja/gifts).
  * Inspired by [You're not you when you're hungry...](https://archiveofourown.org/works/30044589) by [Art_Ninja](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Art_Ninja/pseuds/Art_Ninja). 



> I couldn't have done this without Art, who not only let me borrow Alpha-16, but helped flesh out Alpha-44 from a joke into a full character. _And then made art of them??????? AND BETA READ THIS????????_ You're the best and I love you to bits!

The Kaminoans had kept the food pretty much the same for as long as 44 could remember. Perfectly balanced nutritional goop, starchy squares to spread the goop on, and nutritional protein slabs that  _ supposedly _ tasted like real meat, but 44 wasn't convinced. He'd never had real meat, but he'd heard Prime and other trainers talking about it. It sounded a  _ lot _ better than what they got at the mess.

Therefore, he was surprised when an extra serving of goop was added to his tray one latemeal. It was in a little flimsiplast container with a flimsy lid to cover it.

"What's  _ that?" _ He wasn't sure who had asked the question - everyone was engrossed with their own little cups of goop and weren't looking at each other.

"Food, most likely," he answered.

"But what  _ kind?" _

"It's pudding." They all looked up to see Alpha-2 walking by, holding his own cup of goop - cup of  _ pudding. _ "Prime talked the long-necks into it, said it would be good for morale. It's sweet, you'll like it."

That was all 44's batchmates needed to hear before they started tearing off the flimsy lids. Some used their multitensiles to scoop up the pudding - a few just used their fingers. But  _ everyone _ enjoyed it, if the delighted noises were any metric to judge by.

44 was one of the ones who forwent a tool, sticking his finger into the pudding and licking it off cautiously. It  _ was _ sweet, and soft, and a little cold, and kind of slimy? But in a good way -  _ much _ better than the usual goop that they got.

He picked up the cup, intending to enjoy the treat, and caught sight of some small print on the side. Brow furrowed, he tilted the cup to read, even as he dipped his fingers in for more pudding.

44's eyes widened as he took in the information - that was a  _ lot _ of calories packed into one small cup.

_ Perfect! _

44 craned his neck, searching around the mess - the first batch of Alphas usually ate before the second, so most of them had already cleared out. 2 had been leaving when he had spoken to them, and 44 could only see one more brother who was head-and-shoulders above his batchmates. But it wasn't the one he was looking for.

As much as he wanted to share this new bounty with 16, 44 also knew his own caloric intake needed a boost  _ (karking snakes and their love of kriffing about with metabolic rates...) _ , so he finished his pudding cup and the rest of his food in record time before springing to his feet, empty pudding cup in hand.

"Where are  _ you _ going?" 46 asked. He was still savoring his pudding, drawing it out as long as possible.

"Gotta find 16," 44 said, darting off before his batchmates could question him further. Not that they were likely to - everyone knew he had latched onto 16, though no one (including them) really knew why. He all but threw his empty tray into the closest recycler and, still holding the empty pudding cup, ran out the door.

16's dorm wasn't too far from the mess, relatively speaking, and 44 knew the way well. He rounded the last corner and slammed directly into a brick wall disguised as a brother, sending him to the floor and making him drop his cup.

"Whoa! Be careful -"

"I'm fine!" 44 said, scrambling to his feet with a scowl that challenged the brick wall to say otherwise.

17 raised his hands placatingly. "I know, I know. Just watch where you're going next time, okay?"

44 had already lost interest in 17. 16 was right next to 17, looking on with a raised eyebrow. "16! They have these new things in the mess called  _ pudding _ and -"

"I know," 16 cut him off with a grin. He held up his hand, showing the pudding cup he had. "I was looking for you, actually. Do you want -"

Several things happened in quick succession.

44 lunged before 16 could finish his sentence.

16 flinched backwards, arms coming up defensively even as he kept his eyes on 44.

17 swooped in and grabbed 44 around the waist, lifting him completely off the ground.

"What the  _ ka- _ "

_ "16!"  _ 44 raged, struggling in 17's arms. _ "Stop giving your food away,  _ **_you idiot!"_ **

"44, calm  _ down!" _ 17 said, trying to avoid 44's pointy elbow.

_ "I will not calm down!" _ 44 hissed, flailing his limbs as he tried to wiggle away, but 17 was one of the largest Alphas, not to mention a whole batch older than 44 - he didn't stand much of a chance.  _ Yet. _

"It's an  _ extra," _ 16 explained, showing 44 the two multitensiles he was holding. "I already had one, I thought you'd want to share another!"

_ That _ finally got through to 44, and he stopped actively trying to break 17's hold. "You already had one?"

"Yes," 16 said, the relief on his face obvious now that 44 was no longer trying to maul them like an enraged nexu kit. 

44 thought about this fact for a moment. "Promise?"

"I promise, I already had one pudding cup by myself."

"I watched him eat it," 17 chimed in. "Well - eat is a strong word. More like inhaled."

16 rolled his eyes, but didn't argue. "So, are you going to share this with me or not?" 

44 blinked, then relaxed, hanging nearly limp in 17's arms. "Yes."

17 muttered thanks to an unspecified deity under his breath as he set down his little brother, who was moving again as soon as his toes touched the floor, zooming over to 16's side. 44 immediately began chattering away at something approaching lightspeed, going on about the calorie-dense dessert and the different metabolic rates and daily caloric needs of the various Alphas he had managed to annoy into sharing their health data so far.

(Which was most of them. 17 was one of the few holdouts, but he was well aware that 44 would get the information sooner rather than later. And really, he was only holding out at this point for bragging rights.)

"- so  _ clearly _ this is the best thing they've ever given us, in terms of taste  _ and _ caloric value, and I know your body is  _ kriffed _ -"

"Language," 17 chided, almost automatically as he followed along behind 16 and 44.

44 waved a hand; he'd heard 17 just fine, but he also didn't care. "- so the pudding is basically the best thing for  _ you _ to eat, because you can get a lot more from it, and -"

"And that's why you got upset when you thought I was trying to give you mine?" 16 asked, opening the door to the dorm and gesturing for them to step inside.

"Well  _ yeah, _ you need it more!"

"So do you," he argued gamely, flopping down on his bunk. "My metabolism and body composition might be all outta whack, but  _ you _ burn through fuel faster than a leaking freighter."

"I already ate mine," 44 sniffed, crawling onto the bunk next to 16. "So there."

"And I told you, I already ate mine, too.  _ So there," _ he mocked.

44 launched into another rant about metabolisms and 17 shook his head, going back to his own bunk. 

_ Di'kute, _ he thought, eyeing the two as they continued to argue with mouths full of pudding.

**Author's Note:**

> Make sure to check out Art's _fantastic_ drawing of 17, 16, and 44!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [You're not you when you're hungry...](https://archiveofourown.org/works/30044589) by [Art_Ninja](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Art_Ninja/pseuds/Art_Ninja)




End file.
